Father Shoots Kids, Wife In Bed In Alleged Murder-Suicide

Clint Field, a 29-year-old airman stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, fatally shot his wife and two kids, before turning the gun on himself Tuesday, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Police suspect Clint Field — who might have been treated for depression — was dispirited over his impending divorce when he fatally shot his family before killing himself near Frederickson at midnight Tuesday.

The sheriff's department in the statement said, “At 12:48 a.m. on Tuesday March 13, 2018, a man called 911 and told dispatchers that he had killed his wife, daughter, and son; the caller went on to say the he was armed and was going to kill himself, then he hung up the phone. Dispatchers made multiple attempts to call the man back but their calls went unanswered.”

It said the children — 4-year-old Ava and 2-year-old Ashen — were shot in bed. Their mother Samantha Field also suffered a similar fate.

After shooting his family, Clint called 911 before 1 a.m. Tuesday, and reported the murders to an emergency operator. He then said he was going to shoot himself and hung up the phone. The operator tried to call him back several times but failed. In the interim, a SWAT team and deputies from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department rushed to the home in the 5700 block of 209th Street East.

Samantha’s father Tom Reardon told Seattle-area TV station KOMO, "Our hearts are broken, we lost half our family in one person's selfish act."

The sheriff’s office said there were no prior reports of disturbance or abuse from the family.

It said, “Initial information from military investigators indicate that the suspect may have received treatment for depression related issues and has recently been despondent over a pending divorce. There have been no previous contacts by our department at the residence and no known history of domestic violence.”

Detective Ed Troyer of the Sheriff's Department told KOMO that investigations revealed Clint might have harbored suicidal thoughts in the past. Clint was earlier deployed in South Korea and he returned 14 months ago, Troyer said.

Reardon said he had no reason to suspect that his son-in-law was in the throes of depression. The sheriff’s department said detectives and forensics are continuing to process the scene and interview witnesses.

Since Jan. 1, the sheriff’s department has responded to ten homicides — including the murder of one of their deputies who was fatally shot while responding to a burglary in Frederickson. The department said there have been more homicides in Pierce County in the past ten weeks than there were in 2017.